Selfish Love
by Elizabeth Keyes
Summary: Hermione is a twenty-three year old witch, still living with her parents. When a series of unfortunate events happen, she finally gives herself a wake-up call. She soon finds herself marrying a man she doesn't love, and loving a man she never suspected.


Author's Note: Yes, I know it is a _very _short chapter, but it is only the Prologue! I promise that all the chapters afterward will be much longer.

_Dear Diary,_

_I'm finally going home today. Home to my family and friends. My parents have been sending me letters daily, but finally seeing them again after this month of, to put it delicately, torture will be wonderful. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed again! What has made this month so unbearable, you ask? Jessica Francis. No, the work wasn't the problem. I had a splendid time writing about the beautiful Caribbean for the _Daily Prophet_. I absolutely love working there, and when they asked me to sail the Caribbean for a month and write an editorial on it, I was more than willing to go. Of course, I wasn't the only member of the staff that came for the trip. My boyfriend, David Grier, came along. He has been absolutely wonderful! Mark that out, **had **been wonderful, is more like it. If Jessica Francis hadn't come on this trip, everything would've worked out perfectly! I thought he was going to propose last night, I did. What does he do instead? He breaks up with me! He brings me to the oh-so-elegant restaurant onboard, and he touches my hand and tells me that he loves me dearly, and that it is time to move on. Of course, I thought he meant move on to the next step in our relation ship as most boyfriends mean back at home on Mum's television set when they take their girlfriend to the most lovely restaurant in town and start the sentence off this way. So, I leap from my seat and sit next to him and kiss him squarely on the mouth. What would you have done? I repeat to him, "Yes! Oh yes, I've been waiting so long for you to ask!" But he interrupts saying, "Dear, I'm not proposing." I give him a puzzled look. "I'm breaking up with you," he says. Oh the humanity! I back away from him and sit back in my seat, teary-eyed. "Why?" I meekly ask. "I've fallen more deeply in love with someone else," he says. I ask him who, and you know who he says? Jessica Francis. Well, there goes our harmonious three-part editorial! How am I supposed to write how lovely the Caribbean was when I know that **she **will be writing the same thing? So then he leaves, saying something along the lines that he hopes he hasn't hurt me too much. Hasn't hurt me? Jessica and David met onboard this cruise! And he says he's already fallen in love with her? That's not even the worst. As he gets up, Jessica walks in, and she greets him, hugging and kissing him, when I notice this giant rock on her finger. That ring was supposed to be **mine**. She stole it from me! Jessica smiles at me, obviously not knowing that David and I had ever been involved, and she says to me that he's proposed to her! That's it! I picked up my glass of wine and splashed it in her face. She laughed, and asked what I was doing, but I simply smiled, picking up my spaghetti and shoving it down her shirt, and she squealed as the hot sauce had obviously seeped into her over-stuffed bra. Servers her right. So yes, diary, I am very glad to be going home. I hope my parents are ready for me! Because I definitely need to sit down with Mum, sipping hot chocolate while watching "I Love Lucy" reruns. I can't wait to see Dad either!_

_Love from,_

_Hermione_

Hermione set down her quill. Her hand hurt a bit from writing, but she simply shook her hand, hoping the pain would ease. She reached her arm below her seat and found her bag. She shoved her diary inside along with her quill. She set the bag back under her seat and looked out the coach window. As they drove down the busy streets of London, the coach finally stopped somewhere close enough for her to walk to her home. She bent under her seat and grabbed her small carry-on and reached above her, grabbing her large suitcase and other bag. She exited bus, thanking the driver.

She finally made it to her home street. Smiling at all the neighbors that were in their yards, she noticed none of them smiled back but looked very sad and almost distraught. She wondered what the matter was, but kept walking to her house. She watched the sidewalk as she walked, and as she reached her front gate, she opened it, finally looking up. She dropped her suitcase and her other two bags, and the gate closed itself against her, pushing her down. She couldn't tear her eyes away from it. She had to be imagining things. This couldn't be happening to her!


End file.
